The term computer file management refers to the manipulation of document

Document

The term document has multiple meanings in ordinary language and in scholarship. WordNet 3.1. lists four meanings :* document, written document, papers...

s and data

Data

The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...

 in file

Computer file

A computer file is a block of arbitrary information, or resource for storing information, which is available to a computer program and is usually based on some kind of durable storage. A file is durable in the sense that it remains available for programs to use after the current program has finished...

s on a computer

Computer

A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

.
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Specifically, one may create a new file or edit an existing file and save it; open or load a pre-existing file into memory; or close a file without saving it. Additionally, one may group related files in directories. These tasks are accomplished in different ways in different operating system

Operating system

An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...

s and depend on the user interface

User interface

The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...

 design and, to some extent, the storage medium

Computer storage

Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, refers to computer components and recording media that retain digital data. Data storage is one of the core functions and fundamental components of computers....

 being used.

Concept of the hierarchy of files

Files can also be managed based on their location on a storage device. They are stored in a storage medium in binary

Binary file

A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...

 form. Physically, the data is placed in a not-so-well organized structure, due to fragmentation

Fragmentation (computer)

In computer storage, fragmentation is a phenomenon in which storage space is used inefficiently, reducing storage capacity and in most cases reducing the performance. The term is also used to denote the wasted space itself....

. However, the grouping of files into directories (for operating systems such as DOS

DOS

DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...

, Unix

Unix

Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...

, Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

) or folders (for the Mac OS

Mac OS

Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...

 and Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

) is done by changing an index of file information known as the File Allocation Table

File Allocation Table

File Allocation Table is a computer file system architecture now widely used on many computer systems and most memory cards, such as those used with digital cameras. FAT file systems are commonly found on floppy disks, flash memory cards, digital cameras, and many other portable devices because of...

 (NTFS for recent versions of Windows) or Master File Table (depending on operating system used). In this index, the physical location of a particular file on the storage medium is stored, as well as its position in the hierarchy of directories (as we see it using commands such as DIR, LS and programs such as Explorer, Finder).

On Unix/Linux machines the hierarchy is:

• The root directory (/)
  • Directories (/usr "user" or /dev "device")
    • Sub-directories (/usr/local)
      • Files: data, devices, links, etc. (/usr/local/readme.txt or /dev/hda1, which is the hard disk device)

For DOS/Windows the hierarchy (along with examples):

• Drive (C:)
  • Directory/Folder (C:\My Documents)
    • Sub-directory/Sub-folder (C:\My Documents\My Pictures)
      • File (C:\My Documents\My Pictures\VacationPhoto.jpg)

Commands such as:

• Unix/Linux: cp, mv
• DOS: copy, move
• Windows: the Cut/Copy/Paste commands in the file menu of Explorer

can be used to manage (copy or move) the files to and from other directories.

See also

• Computer file
  Computer file
  A computer file is a block of arbitrary information, or resource for storing information, which is available to a computer program and is usually based on some kind of durable storage. A file is durable in the sense that it remains available for programs to use after the current program has finished...
  
  
• File manager
  File manager
  A file manager or file browser is a computer program that provides a user interface to work with file systems. The most common operations performed on files or groups of files are: create, open, edit, view, print, play, rename, move, copy, delete, search/find, and modify file attributes, properties...
  
  
• File system
  File system
  A file system is a means to organize data expected to be retained after a program terminates by providing procedures to store, retrieve and update data, as well as manage the available space on the device which contain it. A file system organizes data in an efficient manner and is tuned to the...
  
  
• Filesystem Hierarchy Standard
  Filesystem Hierarchy Standard
  The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard defines the main directories and their contents in Linux operating systems. For the most part, it is a formalization and extension of the traditional BSD filesystem hierarchy....
  
  , which defines the main directories and their contents in Linux and other Unix-like computer operating systems.